It Was Always You
by earthtobritt
Summary: When Gretel stumbles upon Ivan and Freya hugging in the dead of the night, she runs away from the shocked residents in tears. Can Ivan convince Gretel that she is the only one for him or lose her forever. Two-Shot. Please read and review!
1. Chapter 1

I'm such a stupid girl, I accused myself mentally. Such a stupid idiotic, gullible girl. Why the hell do I have to love him as much as I do? Maybe more importantly, why the hell did he have to love her? My mom had always warned me never to trust boys with my heart. She said they are all heart breakers, but who did not listen? Stupid me, of course.

These were all the thoughts that ran through my head the moment I turned the corner of Raul's little shop and started to Ivan and Dirk's home. What I saw shocked me enough to stop dead in my tracks. Freya smiled and blushed at something Ivan must have said and Ivan pulled Freya into a tight hug. I wanted so hard to believe that what I was seeing was an everyday, one hundred percent friendly hug. That was until Ivan pulled away from Freya and I saw that he has that adorable blushy, embarrassed look upon his devastatingly handsome face. It was at that moment that my heart broke into a million pieces.

The ache in my chest was just awful. It was slow to spread, taking its agonizing time to make sure that all my body felt the pain my heart could not handle alone. The slow journey it took to encompass my whole body took my breath away and tears formed in my eyes. The tears began to fall down my face, stinging my heart and soul like acid rain. A loud sob broke free from my throat and Freya and Ivan jumped in shock and turned to look at me in shock.

"Gretel!" Ivan exclaimed in such a shocked, rushed voice that it made the edges of my broken heart even more jagged and painful.

"Don't..." I whispered brokenly and when Ivan reached out a pleading hand to explain, I broke out of my daze and sprinted away from them.

I ran blindly, tripping and stumbling my way aling the familiar path that now seemed so foreign to me. I could hear the pattern of frantic feet somewhere behind me and by instinct, I knew it was Ivan. Lightning flashed bright in the sky and rain began to pour unforgivingly. I slipped and fell while ascending the steep hill that lead to my home, the rain not on my side tonight. I finally made it though, and as soon as I grasped the handle to my front door, a much larger hand grabbed my wrist frantically.

My sobs grew louder and I just fell to the ground and cried. I realized Ivan was standing over me, his broad chest heaving with irregular breaths. He struggled to let his breathing under control so he could explain what I had seen. I struggle to get my wrist out of his grasp, but he held tight. I decided not to fight him anymore and I just relaxed my arm and cried.

He let go of my wrist and kneeled down in front of me,"Gretel! Look at me! Let me explain!" he yelled at me in a rush. I struggled to rein in the tears but I quickly found that to be a lost cause. With tears still clouding my vision, Ivan grabbed my chin and forced me to look him in the eyes,"What you saw back there was absolutely nothing. Freya was upset and I was just comforting her! When I let her go, she said that she loved me. I told her that I did not feel the same way because there was someone else." he told me in a panic filled voice.

I finally got my tears under control,"Then who do you love?" I questioned him in a sharp voice.

His whole face softened and he smiled at me gently,"You. I love you. Is it not obvious! It has always been you."  
he replied in a soft voice.

Tears welled up in my eyes for a whole new reason now,"Really?" I asked him in a quiet, barely audible voice. "Really." he answered back, then he leaned forward and kissed me. I was being kissed in the rain by the man I loved. Maybe I am not such a stupid girl after all.


	2. Chapter 2

**5 YEARS LATER**

I run my hand down my belly and think about how lucky I am. I had been married to Ivan for a while now and my twin boy had just turned two. Derek and Isaac were playing in the dirt with their Uncle Dirk who had just married himself and had a little one on the way. The baby inside me kicked and I place my hand over the spot lovingly. Everyone predicted that this one was going to be a boy as well, but I was holding out for a little girl. The sun had just begun to set when Ivan walked up behind me and looped his arms around my stomach and spread his fingers along my taunt belly.

"I want a girl to, you know." he whispered in my ear and I leaned my head back against his chest.

"I didn't know that." I told him and he laughed.

"That's because I just decided it. The ratio of testosterone to estrogen is thoroughly lopsided." he explained and I couldn't help but crack a grin at that.

He planted a kiss on the top of my head and released me. He walked up to his boys and picked them up, one on each side and gave them a tight hug. He sat them down after a while and clapped his brother on the back and said something to him I didn't catch. Derek ran over to me and I picked him up painfully.

"Mommy, can we play for a little while longer? Please?" he pleaded in his adorable little boy voice and I shook my head no.

"You all need to take a bath and get in bed. It's getting late. You can play tomorrow." I told him and he sighed adorably and nodded his head yes.

I sat him down and Ivan ushered them inside to get them ready for the bath. I waved goodbye to Dirk and joined them. I helped Ivan bathe them as best I could, my belly making it hard to bend down. We worked with routine, Ivan bathed one than he handed him off to me to dry and dress. This usually went a bit faster, but I was being slowed down with a sharp pain in my side that happened every so often. By the time we finished bathing the boys and got them into bed, the pain was so intense that I had to keep myself from crying out in pain.

Ivan joined me out in the main room after he had tucked the boys into bed and he found me rocking back and forth on my hands and knees in pain. He rushed to my side and kneeled beside my head.

"What's wrong? Is the baby coming?" he asked and I nodded while breathing deeply.

"Hold on! I'll go and get Claire!" he exclaimed and then ran out of the house and towards town.

**/**

"It's a girl! She's beautiful!" Claire exclaimed as she put the screaming new born on my chest.

I cradled the pink crying little girl and looked into her face, tear of happiness streaming down my sweaty face. Ivan wiped a piece of hair off of my forehead and kissed me softly, "You did amazing. She's beautiful!" he exclaimed, tears of his own building in his eyes.

She stopped crying once she was bundled up and she opened her little blue eyes to look around. She was beautiful. Ivan kissed me again, "What should we name her?" he asked and I thought for a moment, never taking my eyes off of her.

"Aaliyah." I said and Ivan nodded and smiled down at Aaliyah.

"Grow up big and strong. We love you, Aaliyah." he said in a gentle voice and bent down to kiss her softly.

My life was now complete, and I wouldn't change a thing about it.


End file.
